There wasn’t much room left for luxury on Voyager, but at the end of today’s shift fresh black coffee from the replicator tasted as good as sin. Hot, bitter and straight to the point. If only everything on a star ship could be so simple.

    Janeway reclined on the stiff chair in her ready room. Her hair still had a kink from being pulled back all shift. She sighed, eyes closed, and took another eager sniff of the fresh hot brew between her hands. The mugs were just another example of how plain and uninspiring life in space could feel after a trying day. Technical errors popping up, one after another, holding Janeway and her crew back from even attempting relevant research they would need to make it home.

    Earth. 70,000 away there were people who could dig their feet into the dirt, read a good book in the shade of a tree or even go for a walk with their dog. Not that there weren’t planets out in the Delta Quadrant where you could do these things, but to actually be home, the one place that truly felt like the center of the universe, the one place where a person could truly feel grounded, that was a luxury. 

    The fluorescent bulbs of the ready room only furthered Janeway’s headache. The doctor insisted that an excessive intake of caffeine was also a likely culprit. But there was just no way that anyone could keep a star ship afloat amid such distressing conditions without getting a migraine.

    The doorbell sounded.

    “Yes, come in,” Janeway called, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples.

    “I have to say, that seemed to be a particularly grueling shift.”

    Janeway could hear the grin in Commander Chakotay’s voice as he came in. Even the most discouraging of situations didn’t seem to break his amiable character. And an entire shift of engineering malfunctions definitely qualified for discouraging. 

    “Yes, well where would the fun be without the challenge?” Janeway returned Chakotay’s grin.

    “Another day for repairs won’t be the worst loss we could suffer. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Chakotay said as he relaxed into a chair.

    “Sometimes, Chakotay, a person needs more than just fondness to get along. It isn’t enough to have something waiting for you when you get home, you need something to keep you going. Something to make sure you get there in one piece.” Janeway’s eyes flickered from her coffee to Chakotay, lingering on his own pensive gaze. She had come to find an unexpected friend in Chakotay, a kind of support that muddied where their relationship was and where she daydreamed it could be. She sighed.

    “Permission to speak freely, Captain.”

    “Chakotay, after a day like today you can speak freely as long as it is something I want to hear,” Janeway smiled, holding her coffee mug playfully next to her mouth.

    Chakotay leaned in across the space between them, grabbed the mug out of Janeway’s hands and set it down on the desk. The look he gave her dared her to reprimand him and he said “I truly believe you will get us home. In the meantime, however, if you need something to keep you going, someone to keep you sane, let me tell you that I am always here and I will hold you together the best that I can.”

    Janeway paused, hesitant and shatter the moment. She could see something great with Chakotay, he could keep her grounded and alive. Making each moment more than just about getting one step closer to home. But on the other hand, a relationship could break apart the structure of command aboard Voyager, which is something they could not survive this far from Earth. Voyager needed certainty, it needed strength to make even the smallest attempt to get home.

    “Katherine, I...” Chakotay paused and then leaned in. As their lips met, Janeway released any thought she had about command structures and ship protocols. Her arms wrapped around Chakotay’s neck, holding him close to her. Starfleet be damned! Tonight Janeway would live in the moment instead of waiting for an unknown future.

    Chakotay set his hands on either side of her face, his kiss was passionate and made every muscle in her body melt like a river of fresh coffee. They stood together, hungry for what they had been thinking of since first finding themselves on the same ship. Janeway pressed herself against him, feeling his body stiffen in his ugly polyester uniform. His hands ran down her sides, gently brushing past her breasts and stopping firmly on her hips. He squeezed.

    With a certain amount of command, Janeway began unzipping her uniform. She stepped carefully out of the pile of clothes at her feet and looked brazenly at Chakotay’s surprised expression.

    “I guess the ‘Ready Room’ is an apt name for it today,” She stated as she sat back upon the desk. The surface felt cold against her bare skin. 

    Chakotay could not help but stare at the Captain’s exquisite body. The curves of her breasts, confidently held out, and the thick set of her hips meeting the long glorious trail of her legs. She crooked a finger at him and he remembered his own uniform, desperately clinging to the bulge in his crotch. Chakotay smiled as he undid himself, watching as Janeway teased her own nipples, first circling and then pinching with wet fingertips. 

    When their lips met again, Janeway pulled Chakotay up close to her wetness, wrapping her legs firmly around his waist. The heat grew as her hands trailed down his chest, then his stomach, finally stopping at his rainstick. She purred as she rubbed up and down his shaft, kissing his neck and tasting his salty skin. He smelled like woodsmoke and autumn leaves.